Customer Reviews

An American Seafarer in the Age of Sail: The Erotic Diaries of Philip C. Van Buskirk, 1851-1870

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Book stores are full of works that view history through the eyes of rich, famous people. But many times the unknowns have had front row seats, too, and their insights are fresh, new, and honest. Burg's Van Buskirk is perhaps the most quirky voice from history since Samuel Pepys. And Burg's witty, clean writing and meticulous attention to detail make him real -- and relavent. This book chronicles a fascinating time in history, and exposes an interesting bit-player, warts and all. The price probably means that only those interested in maritime, history, or gay-studies will end up stumbling across this book, but it is worthy of a wider audience. A fascinating read.

(...)From a sociological standpoint, many parents with little means to support their families allowed their young children to leave their homes and seek out the life that may or may not have have been meant for them, many at a very young age. As a result, their sexual and socioligical attitudes were lacking.

Another issue about Van Buskirk's diary is not what he wrote in his diary but what he failed to include in it. (...)What were the backgrounds of the other young sailors he shared his life with? He gave almost no insights into the other sailors' backgrounds and previous pasts. Was he so intent on his glorious crusade to stop them from their "evil" ways that he had no time to find out something about their "checkered" pasts? Of course, we will never know the answers to these and many other questions.

All in all, this diary captures a rare view of one man's life as a sailor as well as his self sacrificing, moral crusade for those around him.

Picking up this book, I expected it to contain an edition of Van Buskirk's diaries. Instead, it contains the events within them paraphrased and summarized by the editor. I'm not sure what the purpose was of presenting the texts in this way.

"Erotic", in the subtitle, is a misnomer. Van Buskirk was a pedophile, though he seems not to have acted much on his desires. He was attracted, according to his diaries, to both young boys and girls. At least based on what we're given by the editor, he gives little description of any sexual encounter.

This book is fascinating in that it gives us a portrait of a disturbed individual. Despite the author's inexplicable attempts to portray Van Buskirk as normal, the diarist was not simply a product of his time. He was unable to keep a job and, on several occasions, absconded with others' money and possessions; when he joined the Confederate army, he deserted. He was obsessive, emotionally immature, and had sexual problems -- pedophilia, compulsive obsession and nocturnal emissions into his 30's. He was unable to maintain a meaningful relationship with any of the subjects of his quasi-sexual obsessions. Few memoirs give us such a window into the mind of a messed-up person.

Van Buskirk's diaries also provide information on life aboard US Navy ships in the mid-19th century, which was apparently characterized by frequent homoerotic behavior (which the obsessive Van Buskirk disapproved of but was fascinated with).